Blogs

I have been fortunate enough to have covered a bunch of Super Bowls in the past, and plenty of media days — nine all told. On days like today, when the 49ers and Ravens are in the Superdome talking about Sunday’s game (and many, many other things), it naturally reminds me of those other times — like waiting for Cards-turned-Buccaneers defensive end Simeon Rice before he arrived some fashionably late by about 10 or 15 minutes, or bumping into Cardinals-turned-Seahawks running back Josh Scobey wandering around the sideline (the same Scobey now working here as a scouting assistant), or asking Bears linebacker Lance Briggs about Denny Green’s Monday night speech that had been made just a couple of months before.

Then there was the last one I attended, of course, in Tampa in January of 2009 with the Cardinals.

There is little question it’s a circus on media day, but in the end, it doesn’t really impact anything. It is so early in the week — and don’t forget, Tuesday is the day these players normally have off anyway — and before any practice that by the time the game rolls around, media day is a distant memory. (The players do have media sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, but those are held at the team hotels, they tend to be more low-key, and the newness factor of the week is long over.)

Maybe it’s because of the way the Super Bowl is covered/portrayed these days, but it always feels like media day is what truly kicks off Super Bowl week. So here we go.